Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire founder of Facebook, is joining the nation’s wealthiest Americans in pledging to donate the majority of his wealth to charity.

“People wait until late in their career to give back. But why wait when there is so much to be done?” Zuckerberg, co-founder, CEO and president of Palo Alto-based Facebook, said in a statement Wednesday.

“With a generation of younger folks who have thrived on the success of their companies, there is a big opportunity for many of us to give back earlier in our lifetime and see the impact of our philanthropic efforts.”

Zuckerberg, whose wealth is estimated at $6.9 billion, is one of 17 billionaires who just announced that they are joining the philanthropic effort launched by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates.

Last summer, 40 of America’s wealthiest entrepreneurs were the first to take the “Giving Pledge” — an invitation to the wealthiest American families and individuals to commit to giving more than half of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes.

The pledge now includes 57 families across the country, including Larry Ellison, founder of Redwood City-based Oracle, who made the pledge last summer.

Other new names on the list include former junk-bond king Michael Milken and AOL co-founder Steve Case.

The pledge does not represent a legal commitment and does not set any conditions on how the donors distribute their money or when.

“I’m delighted to welcome these 17 families into the Giving Pledge community,” Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said in a statement. “In just a few short months, we’ve made good progress.”

Sandra Gonzales is the deputy metro editor at the Mercury News, overseeing local news coverage. Previously, she was night city editor and has spent most of her journalism career as a reporter, covering a wide-range of beats: education, city government, courts and crime.

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